Dance News

Jack Beats is a DJ duo made up of DJ Beni from the Mixologists and Plus One from Scratch Perverts, and they're coming to the Crown & Sceptre on Thursday 30 October. Neither of them have anything to prove about their turntable abilities, and they'll be playing an eclectic set of hip-hop and twisted electro. Focusing purely on creating an awesome party sound, the set's sure to be full of crazy mash-ups and deck trickery.

St. Jerome's Laneway Festival has been announced, and while there's not heaps of dance on the lineup, there are a few really interesting electronic acts who are definitely worth checking out. Headlining is Girl Talk, who creates uptempo beats and breaks out of dozens of old loops and samples, crafting a surprisingly catchy, listenable kind of party collage. This guy is awesome. You'll get Sinead O'Connor's Nothing Compares 2 U, pitched up and looped over a skittery beat and some crunk rapper talking about getting head, then something completely different. Post-rock/ electronica group Stereolab are also on the lineup, and after almost 20 on the scene they're a group who have really carved out their own little spot but still manage to be inventive. Four Tet's coming, too. With a career spanning from post-rock to folktronica to techno to instrumental hip-hop (loosely), it'll be interesting to hear what he plays. His latest release, 'Rounds', was a more minimal techno affair, but it's not worth trying to predict something like this. One of the most interesting hip-hop producers is coming along as well, Daedelus. His album 'Exquisite Corpse' is a beautifully lush, soundscaped hip-hop record, but he gets involved in all kinds of electronic music, from electro-acoustic love songs with his wife, Laura Darlington, to avant-garde hip-hop with Radioinactive and Busdriver.

Friday 7 November sees Aussie rapper Reason playing at Live On Light Square to promote his recent LP, 'The Tides Are Turning'. Supports include Bias B, Bigfoot and K21. There's also an MC battle happening that night, email info@daklinic.com or come into Da Klinic to put your name on the list. The whole night's being hosted by Simplex and there's a cash prize for the battle winner. DJs are Shep and Reflux.

Drum'n'bass is healthier than ever at the moment, and the upcoming Everybody D'n'B Mashup at Soho at Hq really rams this point home. A truly excessive lineup with about 40 drum'n'bass DJs plus MCs, it's all happening on Friday 24 October. The list is way too long to put everybody's name in, but DnBassador, MPK, John Doe, Mark 7, Fiction, Filter, Asylum, Noddy, Weeze, Audio Opticon, Rolex, Edit, Nexus and Bak Up are just the beginning.

Superstar trance DJ Tiesto has proved once again that he's in it for the music, playing an intimate New Year's Eve show in New York with a ticket price of $4,500 US. I believe tickets are still available, so if you want to check out the world's richest iPod shuffle play live to you and an exclusive group of obscenely wealthy fans, then there's probably still time.

Nymfo is a drum'n'bass producer and DJ who's been at it now for over a decade, releasing tracks on such labels as Ram Records, Renegade Recordings, Critical Recordings and Shogun Limited. He's done hugely successful tracks with Icicle and Proxima, and has headlined shows pretty much everywhere including, now, Adelaide. He'll be at Live OnLight Square on Friday 14 November. Supports include locals Roost, Moment, Troub9l and MCs G-Swift and Seek, plus more.

Local DJ Griff is bringing drum'n'bass to the Electric Light Hotel every Wednesday night from 9pm til 1am. This is one of the best nights on offer to check out local drum'n'bass DJ talent, with guests from all styles of the genre have made appearances before. Entry is free so there's no excuse.

Somalian rapper K'naan made a strong indent on music in 2006 when he dropped his debut album 'The Dusty Foot Philosopher'. 'Troubadour' is his new one, meant to be coming out in January next year. Damian Marley, Mos Def, Vernon Reid, Maroon 5 and Chubb Rock are all rumoured to be featuring, so it'll be eclectic if nothing else. With a strong, original voice, novel instrumentation and a solid hip-hop grounding, K'naan is something a little different but utterly worthwhile. Very protest/ folk song orientated. But with punchlines!

Eminem's still hanging around, apparently, with his new album titled 'Relapse' supposedly coming out sometime in the future. He's got a new book out, titled 'The Way I Am', but rumour has it that none of his fans know how to read. Kidding! But it came as a surprise since I didn't even know he has a first book. Anyway, he's also teamed up with Nike to create another pair of custom Air Jordans. Only 313 are being produced though. It's a pity Detroit's area code doesn't have more numbers.



Ben Ford-Smith

e-mail any dance news to dbdancenews@gmail.com